Chael Sonnen may have a UFC star in his coaching staff for Season 33 of “The Ultimate Fighter.”
Sonnen coaches “TUF 33” opposite side his friend and podcast co-host, Daniel Cormier. The season debuts May 27 and can feature men’s flyweights and welterweights.
Sonnen has coached “TUF” on two occasions, but for his third time, he’s bringing along former interim UFC welterweight champion Colby Covington. He revealed his entire coaching staff.
“The top coach shall be Clayton Hires,” Sonnen told MMA Junkie. “Clayton Hires is my coach. He’s my mentor. He will not be my assistant ever. He shall be the boss. I may have on the jersey: ‘Clayton’s Team.’ It is going to consist of me, it’ll consist of ‘Cowboy’ Steve. He’s going to do what generally Mike Dolce would do when it comes to helping these guys with their weight, their nutrition, their strength and conditioning.
“I might never do an ‘Ultimate Fighter’ without bringing the best grappler, Vinny Magalhaes – the last man to beat Gordon Ryan I’d add, and he beat Gordon easily. That’s just the reality. It was either 7-0 or 7-1. It was not even close. Vinny never got credit for that. Last human being to defeat Gordon Ryan. And Colby Covington – Colby goes to to are available in.”
Sonnen opened up on Covington’s impact within the training room.
“Colby is such an exquisite mentor to people,” Sonnen sa8d. “That is what people don’t find out about him. He does all of this on the side. He gives back, he goes to camps, he goes to varsity wrestling rooms, he goes to the training sessions, whatever it is likely to be. He has mentored and coached many individuals. But Colby doesn’t want people knowing that he’s a pleasant guy, so I’m not going to destroy his gimmick. But he’s going to do a unbelievable job.”
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